One of the important allusions regarding our current year, 5785, which is fast coming to its end, is that in its Hebrew form, תשפ"ה, it stands for "May this be a year of personal Providence" (תהא שנת השגחה פרטית). Over the past year, HaRav Ginsburgh has taught repeatedly about the topic of personal Divine Providence in Chasidic thought. Here we bring you our fourth installment of his teachings on the subject (parts 1-3 were printed in Wonders issues 145, 146, and 147).
Four Perspectives on Providence
In the addendum to Keter Shem Tov, we find a complete series of teachings under the title “personal Divine Providence” (השגחה פרטית). The first is a teaching from the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe Rayatz, which was adopted into the Hayom Yom:
As is known regarding the matter of Personal Divine Providence, explained by our teacher the Ba’al Shem Tov, may his memory be for a blessing: Not only is every specific movement of created beings under individual Providence from the Creator, but this Providence is the life force of the creation and its existence. Additionally, every individual movement made by every individual creature is connected to the overall purpose of Creation.
For example, the movement of a single blade of grass growing in the depths of a forest, or on a high mountain, or in the deepest valleys where no person has passed, is not only under personal Divine Providence in the sense that God has decreed that this particular blade of grass will live for a certain number of days and hours, moving to the right and to the left, forward and backward, a set number of time during its lifetime, according to a set pattern—but also that this particular movement of the blade of grass has a general connection to the overall purpose of Creation.
Through the sum total of all the individual actions of the countless details that exist in all the thousands and tens of thousands of species in the various divisions of inanimate-vegetable-animal-man, the higher purpose of creation is completed.
Thus, it is not only that that the movement of one particular blade of grass is under personal Providence, but also that this movement contributes to the fulfillment of the higher [Divine] purpose of all Creation.
Considering the relationship between personal Divine Providence and the impact of individual things on the general purpose of Creation—“Through the sum total of all the individual actions... the higher purpose of creation is completed”—several levels can be identified.
Some might say that they do not see the details—they do not perceive this world with all its details—much like the blind beggar in Rebbe Nachman’s story The Seven Betlers, who claims that he does not see this world at all.
One might think that if he does not see the details, he cannot conceive of personal Divine Providence that governs all the details, and he necessarily does not acknowledge that there is a higher purpose that includes all the details. But this is not true. Actually, the blind man does not see all the details because what he sees is the state in which everything is already unified.
In other words, it is possible to see how all the details join to form a unified whole that fulfils God’s higher purpose, and it is also possible to see that everything is one—that God is everything and everything is God.
On the other hand, when discussing the connection between the individual and the collective, even before addressing the unification of all the details into one higher purpose, it is important to recognize that the Divine Providence over the individual has many “side effects.” Perhaps someone who does not believe in personal Divine Providence would say that the direction in which a leaf rolls has no meaning, but chaos theory suggests that every small detail impacts all of reality; the flap of a butterfly's wings on one side of the world can cause a storm on the other side of the world. Of course, before considering miniscule effects that accumulate, there are direct influences. For instance, the leaf that falls from the tree and rolls to one place now leaves the tree incomplete, the straw that came loose from the roof was meant to land in a certain place but also left a small hole in the roof.
In terms of affirmation and negation, every affirmation that happens in one place causes a negation somewhere else. The Ba’al Shem Tov did not want anyone to move his shoes from their place because it is impossible to know what impact that would have on other things. In other words, Divine Providence over every detail ultimately influences countless other details, in expanding circles of influence, much like concentric waves moving through water, as emphasized in quantum field theory. Another metaphor we could use is that the impact of one detail on many other details is, in the language of set theory the impact on the “set,” and the circle in which everything connects to the higher purpose is the influence on the so-called “set of all sets.”
There are then four levels, corresponding to the letters of God’s essential Name, Havayah, which we will explain from top to bottom:
- Yud: the perception of God’s oneness, where everything is seen as truly one (not just a collection of details), corresponds to wisdom (and the yud in Havayah), in which “the True One” (אחד אמת).
- Hei: the details joining to form a unified whole that fulfils God’s higher purpose where each detail is critical to fulfilling the overall purpose corresponds to understanding (and the upper hei of Havayah), which is like an insight that grasps the entire purpose of Creation.
- Vav: the impact of every detail on others, indicating that everything exists in interrelationship with its environment. This level corresponds to the six emotions of the heart (and the letter vav of Havayah), whose most essential is loving-kindness, or chesed, which affects all the other emotional attributes, just as a chasid is encouraged to create an environment around him (and if he does not, his reaction is one of utter remorse).
- Hei: The Divine Providence over the individual detail itself corresponds to kingdom (and the final, or lower hei in Havayah), whose archetypal soul is King David who is careful to try every case with “the judgment of kingdom” (דין מלכותא).
The Ba’al Shem Tov taught that belief in Divine Providence constitutes faith in God and in King David (and the denial of Divine Providence is deemed a denial of both), just as the correspondence we have now build spans from God (the True One) to King David, who is sensitive to every pinch and detail in reality and is awakened by it.
Cause and Effect
The next teaching here enters the perspective of the single leaf finding itself rolling in the wind, and aims to feel what is happening with it:
Thus, we learn in the teachings of our teacher, the Ba’al Shem Tov, may his memory be for a blessing, that all the creations included in the inanimate-vegetable-animal-human kingdoms are all under Divine Providence in all the details of their affairs, each according to their importance. And the Holy Blessed One brings about various causes and effects to carry out some action regarding each creature.
Everything is under Divine Providence that includes the finest details, clearly observable. For example, on a bright summer day, when the sun is shining in full force, suddenly a strong wind rushes by, shaking the tree’s leaves, causing some leaves to detach and breaking the straw on the roofs and the haystacks rolling across the earth, lifting them and tossing them from place to place. After a few moments, the wind calms, and it is as if nothing had happened. The intent of the strong wind was a cause and a reason from God bringing about the detachment of the tree’s leaves, the removal of some hay from the roof, and the tossing of the detached leaves and rolling hay to that place which the decree of God’s supernal Providence has sent them for some Divine purpose.
Thus, even the movement of leaves or rolling hay on the street or in the field is governed by personal Divine Providence. This is even more pronounced when it comes to human beings, and specifically when it comes to Israel, His beloved people, where we find that the supernal Providence governs the finest details of all matters.
In this teaching, it is written that all the details that occur are "a cause and a reason from God" meant to bring about a specific action. One must first believe this point, though in most cases it is impossible to understand the purpose of the individual details of Divine Providence.
Sometimes the expression is "cause and effect" or "effect and cause," and sometimes only one of them is used—usually the cause. The relationship between cause and effect is like the relationship of "the One who surrounds all worlds and fills all worlds." In the foundational teaching on Divine Providence in Chabad, Torah Or, it is explained that Divine Providence over all the details does not bring about multiplicity or change in Hashem's oneness, because everything is "revealed and known before Him" (in gematria, Divine Providence!). Hashem's knowledge does not clothe itself in the created being, but everything is revealed before Him as one and in a natural way (in the manner of "all are surveyed with one glance").
Nevertheless, there is the phenomenon of "the eyes of Hashem are roaming throughout the earth" and "Hashem’s eyes roam throughout the earth," referring to angels who descend to see what is happening on earth and return to report (and they reach even to the vessels of Atzilut)—not in a manner of "revealed and known"—so that Providence can also be perceived in the consciousness of the created beings.
In other words, the goal is not for Providence to remain just as a surrounding and hidden cause, but for there to be an aspect of Providence that fills all worlds—an aspect that is felt by the created being. The cause is the surrounding aspect, but the effect—the aspect mediated by the angels of Hashem who ascend and descend the ladder—is perceived as "terrible in action upon human beings."
In truth, both dimensions of Divine Providence come from the essence of Hashem (which contains the ability to carry opposites, something that philosophers, disturbed by the apparent contradiction between unity and multiplicity, cannot grasp, and in this case, multiplicity does not contradict unity). The dimension of cause comes from the external aspect of the essence, and the dimension of effect comes from the internal aspect of the essence, and more can be said on this topic.
Divine Providence Over the Smallest Details
In the next teaching, there is significant emphasis on Divine Providence over the smallest details:
The Baal Shem Tov, may his memory be for a blessing, explains that each of the created beings has a special place above. Each creation and creature has a designated place according to its essence. The inanimate is not the same as the plant, the plant is not the same as the animal, and the animal is not the same as the speaking species. And within the speaking species themselves—Israel is His special nation. However, Divine Providence is also over the tiniest creature. He concludes that the Divine Providence over the Jewish people, who are the closest to Hashem, cannot be described. And this is obvious, for if such a small thing, like a leaf or a straw, being placed in one spot or moved to another, is under Divine Providence, all the more so with regard to a Jew, who is under Divine Providence, which cannot be understood.
The Baal Shem Tov's example of the smallest thing is a leaf or straw, but today, the smallest thing is a “string” (infinitely smaller than the smallest defined particle). In Yiddish, his expression is der grester kleinekeit (the greatest smallness)—reminding us the Zohar’s statement that, “he who is small is the one who is great.”
Later, he also uses the phrase kleinster kleinekeit (the smallest smallness).
The essence of Divine Providence is revealed in contemplating smallness—just as the core of physics deals with the microcosm. While the macrocosm is also significant and full of secrets, there is enormous wisdom in cosmology, but understanding the vastness of the universe comes specifically from studying the smallest of the small, which is why particle accelerators are built.
One who believes only in general Divine Providence is like an astronomer, someone who is focused on the big picture, where the large things dominate. Belief in personal Divine Providence means that the smaller something is, the more space it occupies. From this, the secret of “For you are the smallest of all nations” becomes clear. This is the verse describing the reason that God chose the Jewish people. Not because of their might or numbers, but rather because they are the minutest of all the nations. The ability to see personal Divine Providence is rooted in the qualities of humility and modesty.
Encounters of Divine Providence
In later teachings, the human dimension of personal Divine Providence is emphasized, particularly in the encounters between human beings who speak to one another (beyond just walking from place to place). There is a teaching that follows the principle of, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person”:
The approach of our teacher, the Ba’al Shem Tov, regarding personal Divine Providence is that God orchestrates causes that will bring one individual to meet another individual at a certain moment, for a purpose. Everyone must have a teacher from whom to learn. Anyone who does not believe this is, Heaven forbid, a heretic.
One should learn something from everything that one sees in the world, not just from human beings. However, it is sometimes difficult to see personal Divine Providence specifically in encounters with people who harm me or with a wicked person who speaks heresy. Still, one must know that even this is by personal Divine Providence, and there is something positive to learn from everyone—some good character trait. And once again, as he states, one who does not believe this is, Heaven forbid, an apostate!
There is a further nuance regarding the value of an encounter between two people:
The Ba’al Shem Tov—may his merit protect us—said that an encounter between two people follows the orchestration of the Supernal Providence, and its purpose is that it be used for the purpose of Torah and mitzvot. In other words, the meeting of people is a Divine blessing, bestowed upon the two individuals, so that each can learn something from the other and influence one another in matters of Torah and mitzvot, not just in charity and acts of kindness.
This is a profound teaching, indicating that the purpose of Divine Providence is not only to give charity, but that when two people meet, they should strengthen each other in Torah and mitzvot. If one imagines a meeting with someone who is asking for tzedakah, I might have thought that God brought us together for the mitzvah of tzedakah. Tzedakah is considered a general commandment that is inclusive of all the mitzvot in general.
However, if I gave charity to the poor person and feel that I have fulfilled my obligation to produce a good result from the meeting, I have truly not yet fulfilled my obligation to properly address the personal Divine Providence in this meeting. Because according to the Ba’al Shem Tov, there a dimension of an awakening to repent (teshuvah) or to increase Torah study.
The principle here is that Divine Providence is not just something to observe—like entering a movie theater to watch a film...—but it carries a lesson and a demand: Action is the main thing. It is not enough to perform the straightforward act of charity; one must stive to understand the higher intent to perform an intentional service of God.
